DAURA
Former President Muhammadu Buhari was yesterday buried in a blaze of glory with full military honours at his favourite spot, where he normally held court at his Daura residence in Katsina State.
President Bola Tinubu personally received the remains of his predecessor, as part of the final rites of honour, at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua International Airport, Katsina. He led other dignitaries to the sleepy town to pay their last respects to the late former Nigerian leader.
The President spared no expense and personally participated in the activities to honour the late president, creating a new presidential precedent.
Just as the family of late former President Shehu Shagari have complained that Buhari got the honour he did not accord Shehu Shagari who died in 2018 when he Buhari was President.
Buhari merely sent his then Secretary to Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha to lead a Federal Government’s delegation to Shagari’s burial while he stayed back in Abuja.
In the United States of America, where Nigeria copied its presidential system from, the passing of a former president is usually a big and solemn ceremony – where all living former presidents across party lines gather in unity to honour the departed.
With the precedent now set, other former presidents can now hope to be accorded similar honour when they pass on. It’s all about the institution of the presidency.
The Shagari family commended President Tinubu for setting a new precedent on how to honour a former President who passes on.
However, according to a release by presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu arrived at the airport from Abuja at 1:42pm and inspected a guard of honour, before the Nigerian Air Force One plane conveying the remains of his predecessor landed at 1:51pm.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, Buhari’s wife, Aisha, and other family members accompanied Buhari’s remains to Nigeria.
Tinubu, along Shettima, President Umaru Sissoco Embaló of Guinea-Bissau, Prime Minister of Niger, Ali Lamine Zeine, former President of Niger, Issoufou Mahamadou, and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, received the casket of the late president at the foot of the aircraft.
A joint team of military pallbearers comprising nine senior officers laid the casket, draped in the Nigerian flag, on a trolley.
Katsina State Governor, Dikko Radda, was on the ground to receive the guests of the state. First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, also attended the burial ceremony, having joined them at the airport.
Minister of information, Muhammad Idris, and Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, were also in Katsina for the funeral.
Dignitaries who came to Daura for the event included Vice President Atiku Abubakar; former Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun (who was said to have decided the burial spot); and former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
Several state governors were in Daura to honour the former president. They included Zamfara State Governor, Dauda Lawal, Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, Lagos State Governor, and Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Equally there to pay their last respects to Buhari were former transport minister, Chibuike Amaechi; former Borno State Governor, Ali Modu Sheriff; former Zamfara State Governor, Abdul-Aziz Yari; and former Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal, among several others.
The pallbearers wheeled the former leader’s casket in a slow march, in sync with the hymn “God Be With You Till We Meet Again,” passing through a full military guard of honour comprising six officers and 96 soldiers drawn from the Nigerian Armed Forces.
Tinubu and others walked behind the casket trolley in a solemn procession. The pallbearers escorted the casket into a waiting military hearse for the one-hour journey to Daura, for the final burial.
On arrival in Daura, Buhari’s corpse was taken to his residence, amid tight security, where top government officials and his close relatives paid growing tributes. Thereafter, his remains were conveyed to a mini helipad located a few meters away from his residence for funeral rites in accordance with Islamic injunction about 4:34pm.
The state funeral featured full military honours, including a 21-gun salute.
Immediately after the funeral prayers, led by Imam Hassan Yusuf, the corpse of the former Nigerian president, flanked by an unprecedented crowd, was taken to his compound for final interment. He was lowered into his final resting place at 5:50pm.
